Our mission is to feed children — and to do so in a way that creates lasting solutions to childhood hunger. Our model is simple – nutritious meals served within the community coupled with a commercial enterprise that supports the operations. At the heart of our self-sustaining model is our commercial farm, where every harvest helps fund our mission. And our work goes beyond meals: we create vital jobs and uplift rural communities. Everything we do helps fuel a stronger future.
In rural South Africa, 70% of children live in multidimensional poverty, where food insecurity is just one of many challenges.
Ubuntu Mundo feeds children
Hunger holds children back
We operate in rural South Africa where 70% of children live in poverty and where food insecurity is a daily reality for far too many. Hunger keeps children from learning, concentrating, and reaching their full potential. Without proper nutrition, a child’s development stalls, opportunities narrow, and the cycle of poverty tightens its grip. No child should be held back by an empty stomach.
Our program moves children forward
We feed children. We provide hot, nutritious meals at the end of each school day, offering a reliable source of nourishment. Each meal includes a protein, a starch, and fresh vegetables grown in our organic garden. These meals support healthy growth and give young bodies the strength they need to thrive.
We focus on young children – through grade 7 – the most important years for brain development and the time when nutrition has the greatest impact on a child’s health. We also provide meals for pregnant women and preschool age children, ensuring even the very youngest get the nutrition they need right from the start.
We focus on young children – through grade 7 – the most important years for brain development and the time when nutrition has the greatest impact on a child’s health. We also provide meals for pregnant women and preschool age children, ensuring even the very youngest get the nutrition they need right from the start.
Our kitchens
All meals are prepared in our kitchens, which are built in the heart of the communities we serve. Our dedicated team of workers, affectionately known as the mamas, prepare the daily meals. Many meals are served on site to children who arrive after school and a growing number are delivered to area schools to feed children in their classrooms as the school day ends.
Organic garden
On one hectare of land, we grow organic beetroot, cabbage, carrot, onion, spinach and tomatoes – healthy vegetables that are part of every meal we serve. The garden is irrigated by a solar-powered borehole and surplus produce is sold locally, giving the community access to fresh, affordable food.
Empowering local communities
We have established deep roots in Mpumalanga, South Africa, working with local leadership to identify the communities in most need and develop systems to best serve those communities. We cultivate local talent and give people opportunities to grow with us.
Job Creation
In a region where unemployment tops 50%, we provide stable employment for local workers. We began feeding children in 2016 by hiring 2 part-time cooks. Today, across the organic garden, two kitchens, and the commercial farm, we employ 25 full-time workers and have created over 150 temporary jobs. For our full-time workers, we have increased household incomes by at least 50%, creating lasting stability and opportunity for their families. We invest in our staff by providing opportunities to build new skills, grow personally and professionally, and increase their earning potential as they advance within the organization.
Easing Household Expenses
When children receive a daily meal through our program, it eases the financial burden on their families — reducing food costs and freeing up limited income for other urgent needs. By feeding children, we’re supporting entire households.
We offer after-school classes in the arts
Our primary facility in Bodlayabongolo is a vibrant space where children are welcomed with music, dancing, and after-school classes in the arts that inspire creativity and confidence. The children learn, play, and feel a sense of belonging. While we stay focused on food and good nutrition, we seek opportunities to enrich the lives of the children we meet, sharing our skills and experience with them, and giving them space for their talents to shine and grow. Sharing a quick song or a deep laugh is good for the spirit, and even if brief, we are grateful to share warm moments with the children.
Our Economic Engine: The Farm
In the fertile Limpopo Province of South Africa, Ubuntu Mundo operates a 7-hectare commercial farm specializing in green peppers. Taking advantage of the rich soil, favorable climate, and deep local farming expertise, we cultivate peppers that are sold in commercial markets throughout South Africa. But this is more than just a farm — it’s a mission-driven social enterprise. All farm profits go directly toward sustaining our feeding program, so that every harvest helps put a meal on a child’s plate.
We’re committed to farming practices that care for the land and support long-term environmental health. The farm creates good paying jobs in an area with high unemployment and provides hands-on agricultural training for workers, teaching skills that extend beyond our fields.
Our farm is a catalyst for lasting change designed to create meaningful jobs and ensure long-term financial sustainability for our programs. We don’t just deliver meals—we build systems that nourish, empower, and endure.
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